Here are a couple suggestions to count pips faster and more practically.
1) Learn to count pips quicker; ie, practice.
2) Learn to cluster count.
(See: http://www.bkgm.com/articles/McCool/cluster.html)
3) Learn to count by difference between positions as sometimes your
position is very similar to your opp's.
4) Break the board up into quadrants and compare; ie, sometimes I see that
I am 2 pips ahead in my homeboard vs opp's homeboard, and then a quick
glance at the outfields shows that I am not ahead there. So I certainly
am not cubing.
5) Count only the difference on the midpoints; ie, if I have 3 on the mid
and my opp has 4, that counts 13 for him.
6) It is rarely necessary to know the exact count. Lets say that my method
results in my count being 73 and I am 7 pips up and I didn't take into
account the 3 duplicated checkers on each mid point. I now add 39 to 73
and get 112 and certainly I am not cubing a normal race in a money play
situation when my count is 112 and I am only up 7 pips. But 95% of the
time I can just ignore the excess on the mid point. For example, my
method says my count is 78 and opp's count is 91 so I am up 13 pips and
almost regardless of how many duplicated checkers are on the mid points
I just flip the cube and let him worry about it.
7) Often a nice time savings is to at least start to count your pips while
your opp is considering his move or even while he's shaking his dice.
8) Count only when it is needed and if considering a run or stay decision
with a big double, take a look at the position if you stay, since the
only play to do so may be hideous and therefore your decision to run is
obvious.